UAE foreign minister urges end to Gaza war in meeting with Netanyahu in New York

UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed stressed the urgent need for ending the Gaza war during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, UAE state news agency WAM reported on Saturday.

It was Netanyahu’s first meeting with a senior Arab official since Israel’s Sept. 9 attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar, which the UAE condemned and protested by summoning Israel’s deputy ambassador.

The UAE, a major oil producer and regional trade and commerce hub with diplomatic sway across the Middle East, signed a U.S.-brokered normalisation agreement with Israel under the Abraham Accords in 2020, which paved the way for close economic and security ties, including defence cooperation.

The Abraham Accords, brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump during his first term in office, saw the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco normalise diplomatic relations with Israel.

Sheikh Abdullah reiterated the UAE’s “unwavering commitment to supporting all initiatives aimed at achieving a comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution, in a way that fulfills the aspirations of both the Palestinian and Israeli peoples,” WAM said.

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The report made no mention of the Abraham Accords, which have been strained by Israeli policies in the region.

Earlier this month, the UAE warned Israel that annexation in the occupied West Bank would constitute a “red line” for Abu Dhabi that would severely undermine the spirit of the Abraham Accords that normalised UAE-Israeli relations.

Sources told Reuters that Abu Dhabi could downgrade diplomatic ties with Israel if Netanyahu’s government annexes part or all of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Major western nations, including France, Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal, recognised a Palestinian state last Sunday in a move borne out of frustration over the Gaza war and intended to promote a two-state solution, prompting a furious response from Israel.

Netanyahu, who ruled out the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state, sharply denounced Western countries for embracing Palestinian statehood.